One oddity of global warming is that Seattle is behaving the opposite of the rest of the world. Summers are becoming less and less present. My favourite season is autumn. It always makes me feel like “let’s go!” When I was a kid, in addition to school, that meant, getting the cottage ready for the winter and helping my uncle change out the boat for the winter season.

But these days, my ambitions seem to be limited mainly to praying to the great god Windex for a streak free shine. Clean windows are important—especially as the days shorten. My grandmother felt that maximising available light was more important than insulation and the older I get the more I see her point.

I need all the light I can get. I’m missing so many things. For example, it’s crept up on me: I’M ALMOST OUTTA RECORDS! There’s about 1,000 left.

But in the immortal words of Hedley Lamarr, “why am I telling you?” The people who read this already have the entire catalog.

The last […]

OK, it’s no secret, I’m no fan of Ayn Rand, but that’s not the point. This image is the first rank on Google; perhaps because it is the lead photo for their bio on pbs.org. But click here to see what I see when I look at it.

I kill me. The point is that the copy is actually pretty bland. I’m sure her fans will find it vastly over-simplified, but it’s about as non-controversial as is possible with someone who lived to change the world.

But that photo? Oy. They could’ve chosen any number of more flattering pictures. And I think that was intentional. As Jung might say, I think you have to assume that their are no coincidences and that everything is, at some level, intentional. The editor of that article is saying something.

Now it’s true that some people just don’t photograph well. Hitler being one. But on the other hand, I’ve never seen a […]

I’ve reached the age where I’ve noticed the lying about one’s youth really begins. I’ve played a lot of crappy sideman gigs over the past two years trying to get my chops back together and boy to hear people my age talk!

Prog Caused Punk. Punk Killed Prog

First of all, I wanna dispel a very common myth. Prog did not cause punk. Prog was self-destructing in ’77 when punk happened. In fact, I got into punk because it was the only alternative to the prevailing pop music of the era, which was awful. What was the biggest selling group back then? Abba. Punk was simply the body’s natural reaction to being suffocated to death. In such situations, you begin thrashing about just to survive that feeling. And Abba? Elton John? I’m having trouble breathin’ just thinking about that crap.

Because Abba was never cool. You’d get yer ass kicked for liking Abba. And Elton. And all those totally gay, over-produced, late ’70’s pop groups.

Prog was already dying by the time ‘Never […]

Are you dead? Working @ Mickey D’s?

No and no. But thanks for assuming. If my computer functioned like a Mickey D’s cash register I’d have a button I could press like this:

So Where’s Detroit At?

The score for the opera is 90% complete. I have stopped to focus on finish audio tracking for the JCHMusic album ‘Songs From Detroit’ which I am trying to get done in time for the holidays. The plan is to use that as a promo for another round of fundraising for a live performance.

Seriously, How Is The Health?

Maddening. I’ve spent three weekends this year at the ER now with recurring infections. Who knew you could crack your own ribs just from coughing. The other issue is that my arthritis is a drag. The main reason I don’t post more is because I have to budget the amount of wrist activity. I can only type so much every day. I can only play guitar so much on any given day. So if I have […]